Canon’s PIXMA iP8500 Photo Printer; Top Of The Line Model In PIXMA Printer Offerings

The first Canon letter-size photo printer to employ the ChromaPLUS eight-color
ink system, the iP8500 is also the top of the line model in the PIXMA series.
Replacing the Color Bubble Jet Photo Printer line, the newer machines boast
some extra features, as well as greater speed and quality, thanks to new technology
described in our sidebar. The iP8500 should be of greatest interest to serious
photo enthusiasts, because it uses a full eight of the ChromaPLUS inks.

The inkset includes additional red and green dyes, not available with the
six-color printers, for deeper, richer tones. According to Canon, the red ink
provides a 60 percent increase in the orange/red gamut. The green ink adds a
30 percent increase in the green gamut, ideal for a more accurate and deeper
rendition of grass and foliage.

Basic Print Making
Thanks to the user-friendly aspects of the iP8500, I was making my first print
15 minutes after opening the box. A simplified guide, plus automated software
loading from the Canon CD-ROM disc, made the setup straightforward. Eight individual
ink tanks are included and each slips into a shared print head that must be
installed by the user; this part of the process is not intuitive, but the Canon
diagram was helpful. After a print head alignment I was ready to start making
prints from images in my PC.

In order to test the most basic features, I loaded some glossy Photo Paper
Pro and specified the media type, Auto Sheet Feeder, High Quality, and Auto
Color Adjustment. All other settings were made by the printer driver software
with full automation. In about 60 seconds of nearly silent operation, the PIXMA
iP8500 completed a very nice 8.5x11" color print in just over a minute
while a 4x6" print took only 30 seconds. That's faster than average
for a top-quality output; even higher speeds are possible at slightly lower
quality levels.

Evaluation: Although this is a high-end photo printer that
will satisfy imaging enthusiasts, the PIXMA iP8500 is surprisingly uncomplicated
in its basic operation. I was pleasantly surprised with the overall look of
the letter-size color glossies. They're bright, sharp, and richly colorful
with great clarity and definition of fine detail. Some of the prints are a bit
too light overall, but they're better than those I would expect from a
conventional enlargement made by a high-volume photofinishing lab.

The printer driver software screens offer many user-selectable
options that are easy to find and access. It's worth reading
the Owners Manual however, to fully appreciate the purpose of
each feature, particularly those intended for image optimization..

Impressively fast and it can prints high-quality photos. It also has a separate cartridge for each ink color that is very good to save ink consumption and also you can easily detect when out of ink. And also it is pack with an editing software for photos that is very impressive because you don't need a third party application for photo editing..cartuchos compatibles

There are a lot of machines that are created to be used in combination with a computer. One of the more commonly used machines for this purpose is the printer. The Canon PIXMA is a sleek styled unit that has a very contemporary look. Styled in the modern design of chrome and black this unit includes the black and color ink tanks used for printing.